"Why is Easter so early this year?"

I have been asked that question several times recently, and responded that the formula for calculating the date of Easter is that it falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon, after the first day of spring. While that is generally a true statement, I want to add some history and clarification.

Before 325 A.D., there was no uniform date established for the observance of Easter.  If it was celebrated, it was done either on or just after the first day of the Jewish Passover (no matter which day of the week Easter Day would occur), or on a Sunday close to or on the first day of Passover.

In 325 A.D. Emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicea.  Many decisions and rules regarding worldwide Christianity were made during this meeting; one of which was that all Christians would celebrate Easter on the same day, which would be a Sunday.  A formula for calculating the date of Easter was also devised, and has been used ever since.

But this computation was based on the Julian Calendar (developed under the Roman Empire).  Because there was no leap year to keep the actual year aligned with the calendar year, the date for the spring equinox would seem to advance at a steady rate through the calendar over the years.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar so that it stayed aligned with the actual astronomical year.  However, Orthodox Churches in the East did not adopt the Gregorian calendar and still use the Julian Calendar, thus the calculated date for Easter often is not the same between the two branches of Christianity.  This year our Orthodox brothers and sisters will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on April 27.

It is also interesting to note that the modern English term "Easter" developed from the Old English word Eastre, which is a name that refers to the goddess Eastre in paganism, who was celebrated at the Spring equinox.  This term also originally referred to a goddess associated with the dawn.  Many Orthodox Christians use the term "Pascha" when referring to Resurrection Day celebrations.  This term is derived from the Greek, which is itself derived from "Pesach," the Hebrew festival of Passover.

This is an extremely brief and simplified explanation of the reason why we are celebrating Easter so early this year.  If you would like more detailed information about the history of the celebration of Easter or how the date calculation works, please visit the following websites:

http://www.assa.org.au/edm.htm1#Method
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter

Whether we call the day Easter, Pascha, or Resurrection Day, and whether we celebrate it on March 23 or April 27 this year, Christians around the world will again this spring observe the most important religious holy day in the Church calendar.

Pastor Martha Dominy